Celebrate March Madness by Getting in Shape with ShotTracker

It’s March Madness both in the college basketball world and at your fitness club.

This time of year brings wall to wall basketball as well as bustling, over-crowded gyms. You still have the “New Year’s resolution” crowd working hard alongside the spring-breakers and people striving to get right for the summer.

To help you reach your fitness goals you should try out a new toy that you can play with at your health club’s basketball court. It’s called ShotTracker and it’s endorsed by one of “the splash brothers,” Klay Thompson.

The wearable technology was previewed at the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) last month and it’s available for purchase online (retail $149.99). The team-focused product will be released later this summer, but the core of the company is focused on the gadget already widely available. In addition to the Golden State Warriors superstar guard, ShotTracker is partnered with Spalding, the National Association of Basketball Coaches and Mario Chalmers of the Memphis Grizzlies. With the Warriors on pace to win more games than any in NBA history, their clothing is becoming very fashionable. Just like Chicago Bulls and Michael Jordan’s clothing in the 1990s. The closer the Warriors come to breaking the mark held by the Jordan led Bulls, the more burgeoning blue and gold bandwagons we’ll see blossoming all over America.

That means Thompson’s star is rising fast and along with it the profile of this wearable tech. So how does ShotTracker work?

With technology from Ultra-Wideband (UWB) chip partner, Decawave, this game-changing system is comprised of three components that communicate with each other to capture player and ball movement, in addition to court location.

A small tag on each player’s shoe and the ShotTracker-enabled Spalding basketball connect with portable sensors placed around the court. The software generates a real-time shot chart for each player and automatically tracks other metrics such as possession, passes, assists and turnovers. Players and coaches can use this performance data to identify areas of strength and opportunity as well as inform game time strategy.

“For more than a century, Spalding has been a driver of innovation in the basketball category, and our partnership with ShotTracker signals our ongoing commitment on this front,” said Paul Sullivan, Senior Vice President and General Manager of Spalding.

“Analytics are changing how sports are played and impacting the game on many levels. We believe this trend is a remarkable opportunity for basketball. From players to coaches to fans and recruiters, there are many constituents that will benefit from real-time information on player performance.”Paraphrasing Common, the famous Chicago MC, “you wouldn’t be balling unless your name was Spalding.”

Another way to use ShotTracker is with the workout I put in. First you place the sensor on top of the basketball net. Then you put the chip into a wristband on your shooting hand. Finally, install the app itself on your smart phone. It tracks your shooting percentage in various formats that you can select from.

I ran the app’s clock, and watched how many baskets I could make while also sprinting back and forth across the court between shot attempts. Then I tried to beat that point total. This specific workout helped me train for the run portion of my first ever triathlon; completed on March’s first weekend. I’m now back to my high school weight, and ShotTracker is one of the wearable technologies that helped get me there.

If there’s someone in your life who loves basketball as much as I do, they’re going to want one of these!

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Paul M. Banks is a regular contributor to RedEye, the Chicago Tribune's youth-oriented daily newspaper. He appears regularly on WGN's CLTV (usually wearing a sport coat with skinny jeans) and KOZN 1620 The Zone. Banks previously contributed to the NBC Chicago and Washington Times websites. He currently owns and manages The Sports Bank.net, partnered with FOX Sports Engage Network and News Now. Growing up with three older sisters and no brothers, he inevitably ended up a member of #TeamOverDressed